The world behind the page
Money and the Temple
Jesus enters the Temple and overturns the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. To understand his anger, you have to understand the commerce that had grown up in the house of God.
“And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves,”Matthew 21:12
The reality
The reality. The Temple in Jerusalem was not only a place of prayer and sacrifice; it was also a center of religious commerce, and for practical reasons. Worshipers who came to offer sacrifice needed animals, and pilgrims traveling from far away found it easier to buy an approved animal on arrival than to bring one on a long journey; so sellers offered oxen, sheep, and doves, the doves being the offering of the poor. There was also the matter of the temple tax, an annual due connected to the upkeep of the Temple, which had to be paid in a particular acceptable coinage. Because everyday coins in circulation bore images and inscriptions tied to Rome and pagan rulers, money changers exchanged common currency for the coinage accepted for the temple tax, taking a fee for the service. Much of this trade took place in the outer court, the court of the Gentiles, the one area where non-Jews could come to pray. The exact rates, arrangements, and the extent of any abuse are not fully known to us, and we should be careful not to assert precise figures. But the basic setup is clear: buying and selling of sacrifices, and changing of money for the temple tax, carried on within the Temple precincts, in the very space meant to be open to all nations.
Why it matters for reading the Bible
Why it matters for reading the Bible. In Matthew 21:12 to 13 Jesus "cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves," and declared, "My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves." His anger is not against sacrifice or against the poor buying their doves; it is against what the trade had done to the house of God. He quotes Isaiah's vision of a house of prayer "for all people" (Mark 11:17), and this is pointed, for the commerce filled the court of the Gentiles, the one place the nations could come to pray, crowding it with the noise of a market. Knowing the geography and the currency shows that Jesus is defending both the holiness of God's house and the access of the outsider, cleansing the space where the excluded were meant to draw near.
How it helps you see Christ
How it helps you see Christ. Christ's zeal for his Father's house burned against a religion that had turned the meeting place with God into a marketplace, and had crowded out the very nations it was meant to welcome. He acts with the authority of one who owns the house, calling it "My house," and he acts on behalf of the excluded, clearing the court of the Gentiles so it could again be a house of prayer for all people. Yet the deeper answer to all that buying of sacrifices was Christ himself. The One who drove out the sellers of animals would soon offer the sacrifice that ends the need for them, giving his own life once for all. He cleanses the Temple, and then he becomes the true and final sacrifice, so that access to God no longer runs through a fee or a booth, but through him.
Questions people ask
Why were money changers in the Temple?
The temple tax had to be paid in an accepted coinage, but everyday coins bore pagan images and inscriptions. Money changers exchanged common currency for the acceptable coinage, charging a fee.
Why did people sell animals there?
Worshipers needed approved animals for sacrifice, and pilgrims from far away found it easier to buy on arrival than to bring one. Sellers offered oxen, sheep, and doves, the doves being the offering of the poor.
Why was Jesus angry?
Not at sacrifice itself, but at commerce that filled the court of the Gentiles, the one place the nations could pray, and turned God's house into a market. He called it to be "a house of prayer for all people" (Mark 11:17).